Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Joseph Cardoso: That’s super helpful. And then just relative to the JL acquisition itself, how are you thinking about the levers you have to drive margins in that business to track to the marine level average, post or pre the acquisition? Is it more of a volume play for you, or do you have additional actions you can take to drive margins to improve in that business? And any thoughts around time line of when you can kind of get those margins up to like the historical corporate average? Thank you.

Cliff Pemble: I think, in general, this category probably will still be on the lower end of the overall segment. But we do have ways that we can improve it over time. As you say, leverage is one of those things, leverage in terms of our overall purchasing power as a company as well as operational leverage and efficiencies and taking advantage of the broader Garmin infrastructure. So, those are the things we’re focused on as we get immediately into this. And over time, we should be able to bring it up closer to what our audio categories are currently.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of George Wang with Barclays.

George Wang: Just kind on the buyback and capital allocation, just given the kind of cash balance over $2.8 billion. Just noticed kind of buyback wasn’t that large last quarter. Just curious if the philosophy, kind of thinking has changed just on the capital allocation front, especially on the buyback and also additional kind of bolt-on, if any, on the horizon.

Doug Boessen: Yes. Our priorities for cash are the same. Those priorities are, obviously, reliable dividends; second of which is investments back in our business, primarily CapEx weighted to build our infrastructures; and third of which relates to our strategic acquisitions such as JL Audio. And then also due to a share repurchase. So, as it relates to share repurchases, we do have an authorization through the end of this year, about $18 million there. And that’s — and we have our purchases really based upon the market, the business conditions as such. So, similar type priorities for allocations and consistency of how we’ve gone through the share buybacks.

George Wang: Okay. Got you. I just had a quick follow-up. Just in terms of outdoor, it seems kind of tougher compare year-over-year basis, kind of timing for the product launch. Just curious if you can double click on the segment versus your prior expectation, maybe a little bit weaker on the margin? Just curious, any refresh on the horizon for the fēnix — next fēnix watch?

Cliff Pemble: Yes. I think, George, it was similar to what we mentioned in our remarks that last year was an incredible year with the introduction of the fēnix 7 and epix. And this year, the timing of our refreshes of that product line came later than we had anticipated. So definitely comping against what we saw in 2022 was difficult. But, we are positive about our new product lines. They’ve been received well and generated growth in this last quarter. And we’re seeing strength across other product lines in this segment as well. In terms of future outlook, we don’t really comment on the next generations, but we’re constantly refreshing our product road maps. And I would anticipate next year to have very strong product releases.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Ron Epstein of Bank of America.

Unidentified Analyst: This is Jordan on for Ron. So I just had a quick question. Could you guys give any commentary on current backlog and then channel inventory that you guys are seeing going into like the holidays?

Cliff Pemble: Yes. I think backlog-wise, Jordan, we aren’t a business that really has a long backlog because retailers tend to put in their orders closer to when they need them. But the indications that we have from retailers are that they see potential for the fourth quarter selling season. They’re preparing for a good season, and the channel inventories up to this point have been adequate or lean even. So, they’re gearing up for a good shopping season.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Ben Bollin with Cleveland Research.